Brian, the complexity and opacity you describe do a lot to erode the sense that we have a system of law.

Very often people don't have any sense that they are governed by actual rules, but who was able to get the services of the better priest-of-the-law to utter magic words for his benefit. Sadly, many areas of law are so complex that even attorneys carry this sense.

I regret this condition because it erodes the sense that law is a rule we can reasonably understand in common and to which we can conform our conduct. It makes us cynical and ultimately undermines the force and purpose of law itself. My two cents.